Western Bulldogs Erase Debt has Black Ink on 2017 Ledger

Posted on December 7, 2017

Interesting, is it not, that winning an AFL premiership has vast benefit so far as the profit picture is concerned?

The Western Bulldogs may have fallen out of the finals last year, but their surprise win in the 2016 AFL Premiership competition, along with strong support from the year previous, has led them to a third successive year where they have shown a healthy profit on the positive side of the ledger.

The figures for the end of the AFL year on October 31 show that the Western Bulldogs made over $1.6 million, thanks in no small measure by commercial revenue and a third straight year of membership growth.

The results from the season just past permitted the Dogs to wipe out any remaining debt they had.

Western Bulldogs CEO Gary Kent told the Australian Associated Press, “We are unable to recall the last time the club was in a position of having nil net debt. “It is at least 40 years. So that’s extremely satisfying. The investment for growth has enabled the club to expand operations in Ballarat and provide for additional resources for marketing, membership services, commercial operations and our community programs.”

We wonder if the Doggies would consider a small loan or charitable contribution to the cause of our program, which is to show a profit from saying nice things about the.

You have to spend money in order to make money; so goes the old adage, and the Western Bulldogs actually spent more in 2017, close to $3 million, on the AFL side, the VFL system and their newly minted AFLW team.

For 2017, the Dogs averaged just under 35,000 fans attending each of their 11 home games at Docklands (Etihad) Stadium. That figure represents a small increase over 2016 and 2015, but after three seasons from 2012 to 2014, where the club drew on average under 25,000, the increase over the past three years was entirely welcome.

Interestingly, they also drew well for away games, averaging over 33,000 in 2017, another benefit of winning a flag.